Public Comment

Good government depends upon open transparency. We citizens must see how government actions are decided in order to keep our public servants accountable. This requires public access to the same information that government agencies use to conduct their duties, with limited exceptions to protect our common security and individual privacy. This is all spelled out in the California Public Records Act (sections 6250-6270 of the Government Code).

Nevertheless, last June, some politicians tried to make the Public Records Act (PRA) optional, which would have blocked our access to our governments' records. Fortunately that scheme was busted, busted by an open and alert press.

To prevent similar schemes in the future, Proposition 42 is on the ballot. It assures that public records and open meetings are not closed to the public on the excuse that Sacramento hasn't reimbursed local governments for the cost of complying with the PRA. It is perfectly reasonable that each governmental agency's response to public record requests be a normal cost of doing business.